Stocks Slightly Higher into Final Hour on Less Eurozone Debt Angst, Fiscal Cliff Optimism, Short-Covereing, Healthcare/Biotech Sector Strength

 Broad Market Tone:

• Advance/Decline Line: Higher
  
• Sector Performance: Most Sectors Rising
• Volume: Below Average
• Market Leading Stocks: Performing In Line

Equity Investor Angst:

• VIX 15.09 -2.71%
• ISE Sentiment Index 120.0 -9.8%
• Total Put/Call .98 +18.07%
• NYSE Arms .72 +35.28%

Credit Investor Angst:

• North American Investment Grade CDS Index 99.83 -1.11%
• European Financial Sector CDS Index 160.15 -2.51%
• Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 105.99 bps -3.63%
• Emerging Market CDS Index 236.32 bps -6.6%
• 2-Year Swap Spread 12.0 unch.
• TED Spread 23.0 +1.0 basis point
• 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -24.75 +3.0 basis points

Economic Gauges:

• 3-Month T-Bill Yield .08% -1 basis point
• Yield Curve 136.0 unch.
• China Import Iron Ore Spot $116.90/Metric Tonne -.85%
• Citi US Economic Surprise Index 43.90 -3.1 points
• 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.40 +1 basis point
  

Overseas Futures:

• Nikkei Futures: Indicating +55 open in Japan
• DAX Futures: Indicating -7 open in Germany

Portfolio:

• Slightly Higher: On gains in my Tech and Biotech sector longs
• Disclosed Trades: None
• Market Exposure: 50% Net Long

Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:

• Boehner Urges Obama to ‘Get Serious’ About Cliff Talks. House Speaker John Boehner said President Barack Obama must “get serious” about the fiscal cliff while the speaker remains “hopeful” about talks aimed at averting more than $600 billion in spending cuts and tax increases. Boehner, an Ohio Republican, told reporters today in Washington that there has been no substantial progress in talks between the White House and congressional leaders in the past few weeks. “This is a moment for adult leadership,” he said. “Despite the claims that the president supports a balanced approach, the Democrats have yet to get serious about real spending cuts,” Boehner said. Unless there is a “serious” discussion of spending cuts, “there is a real danger of going off the fiscal cliff,” he said.
• Finland Rejects Speculation of New Aid to Greece. Speculation on whether Greece needs another bailout is premature and Europe needs to wait and see whether measures agreed to date help the nation regain control of its debt, Finland’s Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen said. “The decisions taken now are the correct ones to support Greece in its extremely difficult situation,” Katainen said in an interview in Helsinki today. “We are committed to the deal by the finance ministers. There’s no point in conjecturing on what that might mean in the future.”
• Spain Cash-Starved States Nudge Rajoy Toward Rescue: Euro Credit. Spain’s regions are adding to pressure on Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to seek a European bailout as the funding needs of the country’s cash-strapped states swamp government expectations. Nine of the 17 states have already requested support worth 93 percent of Spain’s 18 billion-euro ($23 billion) regional rescue fund, known as FLA. While the 10-year Spanish bond yield has fallen 251 basis points from a euro-era record of 7.75 percent on July 25, most of the states remain shut out of markets, forcing the government to weigh the cost of extending the rescue facility for another year.
• German Unemployment Rose for an Eighth Month in November. German unemployment climbed for an eighth straight month in November as Europe’s debt crisis curbed company investment and economic growth. The number of people without a job increased a seasonally adjusted 5,000 to 2.94 million, the Federal Labor Agency in Nuremberg said today. Economists forecast a gain of 16,000, the median of 37 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey shows. 
• King Signals U.K. Banks Need More Capital Against Losses. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King signaled U.K. banks may need to build up the capital they hold against potential losses, and asked regulators to report back by March on how lenders will comply.
• China Stocks Drop for Fourth Day as Brokerages Fall. Sinolink Securities Co. plunged by the 10 percent daily limit and Citic Securities Co., the nation’s largest brokerage by value, headed for its biggest loss in three months. The regulator is talking with brokerages about cutting commissions on transactions by 20 percent, the 21st Century Business Herald reported. Liquor maker Luzhou Laojiao Co. led gains by consumer staples companies, the worst performers this month. The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) dropped 0.5 percent to 1,963.49 at the close, erasing a gain of as much as 0.4 percent. “Volumes have been very weak in the market and the brokerages get hit the most because this means business will suffer,” said Deng Wenyuan, an analyst at Soochow Securities Co., by phone today in Suzhou. “There’s little confidence in the market.”
• China’s Push for Stability Undermines Law, Sociologist Says. The Chinese government’s emphasis on maintaining stability has undermined rule of law in the country, leading local officials to “do evil,” Tsinghua University Professor Sun Liping said at a conference in Beijing today. China has been moving away from the rule of law in the last couple of years as local officials push to enforce limits on childbirth and reach tax collection quotas, Sun, 57, one of the country’s best-known social scientists, told the Caijing Annual Conference in Beijing. The attitude of local officials on the government’s one- child policy is “I just don’t want to see newborn babies, and I don’t care whatever you do to ensure the baby is not delivered,” Sun said.
• U.S. Retailers’ Sales Miss Estimates After Sandy. U.S. retailers posted November same-store sales that trailed analysts’ estimates as superstorm Sandy depressed traffic early in the month, overwhelming gains from the start of holiday shopping. Sales at Macy’s Inc. (M), the second-biggest U.S. department- store company, fell 0.7 percent, compared with the average projection for a 2.5 percent gain from analysts surveyed by researcher Retail Metrics Inc. Target Corp. (TGT), the second-largest U.S. discount chain, posted a 1 percent decline in same-store sales, missing the estimate for a 2.1 percent increase. Same-store sales for the more than 20 companies tracked by Swampscott, Massachusetts-based Retail Metrics rose 1.6 percent, excluding drugstores, trailing the estimate for a 3.5 percent gain, the firm said today.
• Tiffany(TIF) Cuts Full-Year Profit Forecast, Earnings Missed. Tiffany & Co., the world’s second- largest luxury jewelry retailer, cut its annual profit forecast for the third time this year after higher diamond costs ate into margins and customers curbed spending in weak economies. Tiffany’s gross margin, a key measure of profitability, shrank more than analysts anticipated last quarter as precious- metals costs also increased. Sales, which also trailed the average projection, were “weak,” said Liz Dunn, an analyst with Macquarie Group Ltd. in New York, who rates the shares neutral, the equivalent of hold. The shares dropped 7.9 percent to $58.72 at 9:34 a.m. in New York, the biggest intraday decline since May 24.
• Jobless Claims in U.S. Decrease as Sandy Effect Dissipates. Applications for jobless benefits decreased by 23,000 to 393,000 in the week ended Nov. 24, Labor Department figures showed today. Economists forecast 390,000 claims, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.
• Pending Sales of Existing U.S. Homes Rose 5.2% in October. The index of pending home resales climbed 5.2 percent, exceeding the highest estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists, to 104.8 after a revised 0.4 percent gain in September, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. The median forecast in the Bloomberg survey called for a 1 percent gain.
• Student Loans Go Unpaid, Burden U.S. Economy: Chart of the Day.

Wall Street Journal:

• Fiscal Cliff: Live Stream.

CNBC:

• Is Puerto Rico the Greece of the Caribbean?
• What Empty Nest? Weak Economy Means Living at Home. 
• Fiscal Cliff’ Could Put Millions of Taxpayers Into ‘AMT Shock’. One of the key questions lurking in the "fiscal cliff" talks — though well below the public's radar — is what happens to the alternative minimum tax, or AMT.

Zero Hedge: 

• Ugly Q3 GDP Confirms Personal Consumption Collapsing; Headline "Growth" Driven By Government, Inventory Accumulation. (graphs)
• What Is Obama So Afraid Of?
• Cashin Catches Juncker In Rare Truth-Telling Act, Confirming Everything Is A Lie.

Business Insider:

• IDC Says 2013 Is Microsoft's 'Year Of Reckoning' For Mobile.

Seeking Alpha: 

• Bullish Sentiment Jumps To 3-Month High.

The Blaze:

• Krauthammer: Republicans Who Cave on Entitlements and Buy Obama’s Promise Are Fools. (video)

Reuters:

• Fed's Fisher presses for clearer fiscal outlook. Fisher said that a temporary fix would not help employment. Fisher said the Fed would tighten monetary policy when needed but "we are not there yet". Fisher, who is a critic of easy Fed policy, also said he would like the central bank to define how far it is willing to go with its monetary stimulus. "I personally advocate that we do it sooner," he said. Asked when the United States would see a substantial improvement in employment, Fisher said: "Only when we will get clear signals from the fiscal authorities." "You can't expect somebody to hire somebody ... until you have confidence you will get a return on the cost." "From a monetary standpoint, we have given the fuel ... now it's up to the private sector to engage. And it won't happen until we get clarity on the fiscal side."
• Egypt opposition says wider strikes possible against Mursi. An alliance of Egyptian opposition groups pledged on Thursday to keep up protests against President Mohammed Mursi and said broader civil disobedience was possible to fight what it described as an attempt to "kidnap Egypt from its people". 
• U.S. gives Iran until March to cooperate with IAEA. The United States set a March deadline on Thursday for Iran to start cooperating in substance with a U.N. nuclear agency investigation, warning Tehran the issue may otherwise be referred to the U.N. Security Council. 
• Windows PC retail sales fall after Windows 8 - NPD. Consumer sales of Windows-powered personal computers fell 21 percent overall last month, according to a leading retail research firm, indicating a lackluster debut for Microsoft Corp's Windows 8 operating system, which many in the industry had hoped would revive slack PC sales. Since the launch of Windows 8 on Oct. 26, Windows laptop sales are down 24 percent, while desktop sales are down 9 percent compared with the same period last year, said NPD Group, which tracks computer sales weekly using data supplied by retailers.
• Year-end US fiscal deal must include debt limit hike-Reid. An increase in the U.S. debt limit must be part of any deal to resolve the looming "fiscal cliff" of year-end tax hikes and spending cuts, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Thursday.

Telegraph: 

• Greek deal frays as IMF threatens walk-out on debt buy-back impasse. The eurozone's debt relief plan for Greece has hit serious trouble within days as banks and pension funds balk at fresh losses, raising fears that the package could unravel before a deadline in mid-December.

Die Welt:

• Ifo's Sinn Doubt Euro Crisis States More Competitive. Ifo economic institute President Hans-Werner Sinn questions the view of the EU Commission that crisis-struck states in the euro area are becoming more competitive, citing an interview.

Epikaira:

• The main opposition Syriza party, which opposes Greek loan accord, has 31.5% support among likely voters, a poll by VPRC showed. Greek PM Samaras's New Democracy party would get 26.5% if elections held now. Nationalist Golden Dawn Party would have 12.5% support. 85% are dissatisfied with the way the govt is handling the country's problems.

Bear Radar

Style Underperformer:

• Mid-Cap Value +.29%

Sector Underperformers:

• 1) Retail -1.75% 2) Coal -.40% 3) I-Banking -.23%
  

Stocks Faling on Unusual Volume:

• KSS, TIF, SHLD, EGO, UPL, SBNY, HITK, LQDT, GNRC, USNA, BKS, LZB, HLF, OMI, VCRA, RUE, AAP, INGR, DVA, TFM, CBRL, ARO, OMG, PIR, TGT, LPL, CREE, PLL, M and TKR

Stocks With Unusual Put Option Activity:

• 1) TIF 2) KSS 3) GES 4) TGT 5) INTC
  

Stocks With Most Negative News Mentions:

• 1) AKAM 2) CREE 3) OMG 4) GS 5) XOM
  

Charts:

• ETFs Falling on Unusual Volume
• Stocks Falling on Unusual Volume

Bull Radar

Style Outperformer:

• Small-Cap Growth +.79%

Sector Outperformers:

• 1) Steel +1.72% 2) Networking +1.09% 3) Biotech +1.08%
  

Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume:

• MMR, HDB, YPF, EXPR, MBT, BLOX, SMTC, RIMM, IBN and  REGN

Stocks With Unusual Call Option Activity:

• 1) TIF 2) LCC 3) OVTI 4) LNG 5) UUP
  

Stocks With Most Positive News Mentions:

• 1) SMRT 2) KR 3) OCR 4) VMW 5) ROST

Charts:

• ETFs Rising on Unusual Volume 
• Stocks Rising on Unusual Volume

Thursday Watch

Evening Headlines 
Bloomberg:

• Rutte Sees Possible Extra Steps to Keep Greece on Track. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Greece may need more financial help to stay in the euro, retreating from a hard line that included a willingness to consider the country’s exit from the currency bloc. Echoing his German allies, Rutte declined to speculate on Greece leaving the 17-nation euro. “Wolfgang Schaeuble, the German finance minister, is entirely right that you have to take a view on the situation of Greece every couple of years again, whether we are on track and whether extra steps have to be taken,” Rutte said in an interview yesterday in The Hague. Rutte said he opposed granting concessions to Ireland and Portugal that euro-area finance ministers this week agreed to give the government in Athens to keep it solvent. He declined to comment on a potential aid request by Spain and ruled out writing off European taxpayers’ loans to Greece. “I absolutely believe that investors understand that Greece is a particularly difficult case,” said Rutte, who spoke in English. “I understand Ireland and Portugal are looking with keen interest at the Greek package and what that might mean for their countries.” 
• Japan’s Retail Sales Fall in October as Car, TV Sales Fall. Japan’s retail sales fell in October by the most in 11 months as consumers purchased fewer cars and televisions, adding pressure on the government to stimulate an economy that may be entering a recession. Sales fell 1.2 percent from a year earlier, the Trade Ministry said in Tokyo today, after a 0.4 percent advance in September. The median estimate of 10 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 0.8 percent decline.
• Korea Manufacturer Confidence Falls to Lowest in 3 Years. South Korean manufacturers’ confidence fell to the lowest level in more than three years as gains in the won threaten to slow a rebound in exports and the country prepares to vote for a new president next month. An index measuring expectations for December fell to 67 from 70 for November, the lowest since April 2009, the Bank of Korea said in a statement in Seoul today. A reading below 100 indicates that pessimists outnumber optimists.
• CFTC Said to Give Swaps Dealers 3-Month Clearing Time Delay. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission granted JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays Plc and six other lenders a three-month delay to meet swaps-clearing rules, according to a person with knowledge of the decision.
• Unaffordable Cost Seen for Some Under Affordable Care Act. To Megan Hildebrandt, President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act means she can no longer be denied health insurance because of her lymphatic cancer. There’s a big catch: Coverage for the 28-year-old artist and many other Americans without insurance will come at a potentially unaffordable cost.
• Rio Tinto(RIO) Targets $5 Billion Spending Cuts, Production Boost. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s second- largest mining company, said it’s targeting savings of $5 billion by the end of 2014, while simultaneously boosting production at its iron ore, copper and alumina units. “We are taking further tough action to roll back the unsustainable cost increases of the past few years,” Tom Albanese, chief executive officer of the London-based company, said today in a statement. “Our two most challenged businesses are aluminum and coal, and in particular Australian coal,” he later told reporters in Sydney.
• China, EU Comments Show Reduced Scope of UN Climate Talks. China teamed with the European Union and envoys from the bloc of 48 Least Developed Countries to dial back expectations for United Nations climate talks, indicating that there probably aren’t any new promises for aid or cuts in greenhouse gases on the horizon. China ruled out the idea of capping growth in fossil-fuel emissions from developing nations before 2020, while EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said she can’t provide specific details about how the bloc’s 27 countries plan to meet meet commitments for boosting aid to poorer nations.

Wall Street Journal:

• Fiscal Cliff: Live Stream.
• Palestinian Vote in U.N. Seen Buoying Fatah. The United Nations General Assembly is expected to recognize the Palestinian territories as a nonmember state in a vote Thursday, giving President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party a rare diplomatic victory after being sidelined by the recent conflict in the Gaza Strip.
• For Small Firms, Election Results Dampen Optimism. The results of the presidential election dampened the spirits of many small-business owners who now worry that forthcoming federal policies, including potentially higher taxes and health-care reform, could stunt growth and hiring at their firms. A November survey from Vistage International Inc. and The Wall Street Journal found a significant drop in optimism compared with the months leading up to the election, as respondents anticipated a worsening economy in 2013. The survey's overall confidence index, based on responses of 740 small-business owners, fell to 83.9 from 95.3 in October. That is the lowest in the survey's six-month history. Specifically, the survey's index of expected economic conditions fell to 77 from 105, a result of 43% of the respondents anticipating worse U.S. conditions in the next 12 months. That is nearly twice as many as October's 23%. The index of business profits also fell to 122 from 135 as only 43% of owners anticipate higher profits in the coming year, down from 50% last month.
• Heart Gadgets Test Privacy-Law Limits. The small box inside Amanda Hubbard's chest beams all kinds of data about her faulty heart to the company that makes her defibrillator implant. Ms. Hubbard herself, however, can't easily get that information unless she requests summaries from her doctor—whom she rarely sees since losing her insurance. In short, the data gathered by the Medtronic Inc. implant isn't readily accessible to the person whose heartbeat it tracks. "This is my health information," said Ms. Hubbard, 36 years old. "They are collecting it from my chest."
• Henninger: The Racializing of American Politics. Even the exit polls now force people to put themselves in a racial category.

Fox News: 

• Debt ceiling looms, as bill for Sandy mounts. While lawmakers scramble to avoid a catastrophic budget meltdown known as the "fiscal cliff," the nation also is fast approaching its borrowing limit -- and expenses like the nearly $100 billion tab for superstorm Sandy damage are only pushing the nation further into a rising sea of red ink.

CNBC: 

• Herbert Hoover Obama? Obama never mentioned spending cuts. Never. Not once. Yet Boehner has argued that the Republican revenue concession depends on some entitlement cuts as well as other spending reductions that would make up the trillion dollars or so in the across-the-board sequestration plan that appears to have been junked by both parties. Republicans should not sign a tax deal that doesn’t have a sizeable spending component.

Zero Hedge: 

• Europe's Good, Bad, And Ugly Charts.
• The Top Ten 'Fiscal Cliff' To-Do List. The debate over deductions underscores many of our themes around the cliff: A long and painful negotiation. A multi-step deal into the Spring is much more likely than a quick fix. Fade the various press fakes around alleged done deals. Don’t be surprised if deals fall apart once the details are vetted. 
• 4 Fun Facts On 2012/2013 Earnings.

Business Insider:

• What's Really Driving The Housing Recovery?
• This Burger-Making Robot Could Revolutionize The Fast Food Industry.
  

NY Times: 

• Medicare Is Faulted on Shift to Electronic Records. The conversion to electronic medical records — a critical piece of the Obama administration’s plan for health care reform — is “vulnerable” to fraud and abuse because of the failure of Medicare officials to develop appropriate safeguards, according to a sharply critical report to be issued Thursday by federal investigators.

Reuters: 

• Moody's cuts Detroit debt ratings deeper into junk. Moody's Investors Service lowered Detroit's debt ratings deeper into junk territory on Wednesday and warned there was a higher risk the cash-strapped city could default on bonds or file for bankruptcy. The credit rating agency, which placed Detroit on review for possible downgrades in June, assigned a negative outlook to the lowered ratings, citing "the rising possibility that the city could file for bankruptcy or default on an obligation over the next 12 to 24 months."
• Wells Fargo(WFC) says it won't face SEC action on mortgages. U.S. securities regulators have dropped an inquiry into Wells Fargo & Co mortgage securities offerings, the bank said in a securities filing on Wednesday. 
• American Eagle(AEO) sees strong holidays, Aeropostale(ARO) wary. Teen clothing retailer American Eagle Outfitters Inc said it got off to a strong start fo the holiday selling season and raised its earnings forecast for the year, while Aeropostale Inc's forecast showed it expects a tougher season than its rival.

Financial Times:

• Dismal year for quantitative hedge funds. BlueTrend, the $11bn Geneva-based fund run by Leda Braga, dropped 5.3 per cent in October, bringing year-to-date losses to 3.1 per cent, an investor in the fund said. Winton Capital, the world’s largest quant fund, with $26bn under management, has seen its flagship futures fund drop 5.65 per cent in the year to November 27. Aspect Capital, another large London-based quant fund, is down 11.7 per cent in the year to November 21. AHL, the $16bn flagship fund of the Man Group has fared better, though is still on course to lose money – the fund was down 2.8 per cent as of November 19.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung:

• Banks to contribute to Greek financial rescue less than previously believed. Central banks set to transfer revenue of about EU10b from Greek government bonds they hold minus costs of EU1b-EU2b. May result in additional costs to Germany Finance Ministry budget of as much as EU500m. Euro-zone central banks bought Greek bonds with nominal value of EU50b. Euro-zone finance ministers pledged the full EU10b in revenue to Greece, but now need to make up the different from national budgets. German Finance Minister Schaeuble had promised about EU2.7b over several years, but may get only EU2.2b from Bundesbank.

CTVNews: 

• Canada to oppose Palestinian statehood bid at UN. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada will vote against the bid of the Palestinian Authority to raise its status at the United Nations. While Harper said he favours a two-state solution in the Middle East, his government wants to see Israel and the Palestine Authority return to the bargaining table before supporting Palestine’s statehood.

Evening Recommendations 

• None of note

Night Trading

• Asian equity indices are +.25% to +1.0% on average.
• Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 112.0 -1.0 basis point.
• Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 83.75 +.5 basis point.
• FTSE-100 futures +.53%.
• S&P 500 futures +.36%.
• NASDAQ 100 futures +.45%.

Morning Preview Links

Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate

• (KR)/.42 
• (TIF)/.63
• (CBRL)/1.06
• (BKS)/-.04
• (OVTI)/.31
• (ULTA)/.56
• (JCG)/.74 

Economic Releases
8:30 am EST 

• 3Q GDP is estimated to rise +2.8% versus a prior estimate of a +2.0% gain.
• 3Q Personal Consumption is estimated to rise +1.9% versus a prior estimate of a +2.0% gain.
• 3Q GDP Price Index is estimated to rise +2.8% versus a prior estimate of a +2.8% gain.
• 3Q Core PCE is estimated to rise +1.3% versus a prior estimate of a +1.3% gain.
• Initial Jobless Claims are estimated to fall to 390K versus 410K the prior week.
• Continuing Claims are estimated to fall to 3325K versus 3337K prior.

10:00 am EST

• Pending Home Sales for October are estimated to rise +1.0% versus a +.3% gain in September.

 11:00 am EST

• The Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Activity Index for November is estimated to rise to -1.0 versus -4.0 in October.

Upcoming Splits

• None of note
  

Other Potential Market Movers

• The Fed's Fisher speaking, Germany unemployment rate, Italy 10Y auction, 7Y T-Note auction, weekly EIA natural gas inventory report, weekly Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index and the (CPLA) investor day could also impact trading today.

BOTTOM LINE: Asian indices are mostly higher, boosted by industrial and technology shares in the region. I expect US stocks to open modestly higher and to weaken into the afternoon, finishing mixed. The Portfolio is 50% net long heading into the day.

Stocks Reversing Higher into Final Hour on Fiscal Cliff Optimism, Short-Covering, Bargain-Hunting, Consumer Discretionary Strength

Today's Market Take:
 
Broad Market Tone:

• Advance/Decline Line: Modestly Higher
  
• Sector Performance: Most Sectors Rising
• Volume: Below Average
• Market Leading Stocks: Performing In Line

Equity Investor Angst:

• VIX 15.80 -.75%
• ISE Sentiment Index 133.0 +41.5%
• Total Put/Call .84 unch.
• NYSE Arms .60 -.67%

Credit Investor Angst:

• North American Investment Grade CDS Index 101.42 -.72%
• European Financial Sector CDS Index 164.20 +1.03%
• Western Europe Sovereign Debt CDS Index 109.98 bps +.90%
• Emerging Market CDS Index 252.95 bps -1.04%
• 2-Year Swap Spread 12.0 -.5 basis point
• TED Spread 22.0 -1.0 basis point
• 3-Month EUR/USD Cross-Currency Basis Swap -27.75 +.5 basis point

Economic Gauges:

• 3-Month T-Bill Yield .09% +1 basis point
• Yield Curve 136.0 -2 basis points
• China Import Iron Ore Spot $117.90/Metric Tonne unch.
• Citi US Economic Surprise Index 47.0 -2.0 points
• 10-Year TIPS Spread 2.39 unch.
  

Overseas Futures:

• Nikkei Futures: Indicating +52 open in Japan
• DAX Futures: Indicating +37 open in Germany

Portfolio:

• Higher: On gains in my Tech/Medical/Retail/Biotech sector longs and emerging markets shorts
• Disclosed Trades: Covered some of my (IWM)/(QQQ) hedges
• Market Exposure: Moved to 50% Net Long